Type composing apparatus



Jan. 11, 1966 R. A. HIGONNET ETAL 3,228,313

TYPE COMPOSING APPARATUS Original Filed June 12, 1958 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Bc I) E F 6 INVENTORS RENE A. HIGONNET LOUIS M. MOYROUD BY w ATTORNEYSJan- 11, 1 R. A. HlGONNET ETAL 3,228,313

TYPE COMPOSING APPARATUS Original Filed June 12, 1958 7 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTORS RENE A. HIGONNET OUlS M. M YRQUD Jan. 11, 1966 R. A. HIGONNETETAL TYPE COMPOSING APPARATUS Original Filed June 12, 1958 7Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS RENE A. HIGONNET LOUIS M. MOYOUD ATTORNEYS Jan.11, 1966 R. A. HIGONNET ETAL 3,228,313

TYPE COMPOSING APPARATUS Original Filed June 12, 1958 7 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTORS RENE A. HIGONNET LOUIS M. MOYROUD ATTORNEYS J n- 11, 196 R. A.HIGONNET ETAL 3,228,313

TYPE COMPOSING APPARATUS 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Original Filed June 12, 1958INVENTORS RENE A. HIGONNET LOUIS M. MOYROUD ATTORNEYS ax mx Jan. 11,1966 R. A. HIGONNET ETAL 3,223,313

TYPE COMPOSING APPARATUS 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Original Filed June 12, 1958mu 2mm 0mm wmutbzm OMQOO INVENTORS RENE A. HIGONNET LOUIS M. MOYROU DBY, mm

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,228,313 TYPE COMIOSING APPARATUS ReneA. Higonnet, Cambridge, and Louis M. Moyroud, West Medford, Mass. (BothPhoton line, 355 Middlesex Ave, Wilmington, Mass.)

Continuation of application Ser. No. 741,659, June 12, 1958, now PatentNo. 3,054,335. This application Sept. 17, 1962, Ser. N 224,161)

Claims. (Cl. 95-45) This application is a continuation of our copendingapplication Serial Number 741,659, filed June 12, 1958, now PatentNumber 3,054,335.

The present invention relates to photographic type composing machines.More particularly, it is concerned with a very high-speedphotographic-type composing machine wherein the information necessary tothe transcription on film is stored in a tape.

The characters are preferably stored in a suitable register in fulllines, rather than being transcribed immediately to the tape uponselection at the keyboard. This permits justification of the lines,whereby the right-hand margins are aligned before perforating the tape;and it also permits correction of erroneously selected characters.Correction is made possible by permitting the operator to see thecharacters corresponding to the information stored in the register aftereach line has been composed, and to erase and correct any erroneousinformation in the register before transcription has begun.

A principal feature of the present invention resides in improvements inthe machine generally described in our ICC FIGURE 10 and FIGURES 10a to10d show a variant to the illumination system;

FIGURE 11 illustrates one of the defects of known projection systemswhich defect is corrected by the invention; and

FIG. 12 is a view of the optical system.

FIGURE 1 is a block diagram representing an entire type composingmachine according to the invention. There is provided the usual keyboardunit KB having a key for each selected character (there being forty-fivekeys of this type in the illustrated embodiment), a space bar SB and anumber of special keys. The keyboard unit is preferably adapted toprovide a typed copy of the selected characters in the same manner as anordinary typewriter. By this means, the operator may check thecharacters after each line of typing to detect any errors.

copending application Serial No. 627,501, filed December 10, 1956, nowPat. No. 3,117,502. These improvements make it possible to stop anotherwise continuously moving film carriage or prisim carriage forcertain functions of the machine such as size changes or style changes.Another object of the invention is the improvement of a photographictype composing machine using a multiplicity of static lenses to projectany character of a font at a common point,

Another object of the present invention relates to the production oftape for use in photographic type composing machines provided with allthe necessary information for transcription of a line, including all ofthe proper spacing information for line justification.

Another object of the present invention relates to improvements to tapereading systems where the tape is read by the use of small brushes.

Another object of the invention is an illumination system to produce aflash of light at any of a relatively large number of points by simplemeans.

Other features of the invention reside in certain structures,arrangements and modes of operation which will become apparent from thedescription to follow.

In the drawings, FIGURE 1 is a block diagram of a machine embodying theinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a block diagram schematically representing the photographicor transcribing unit of the machine;

FIGURE 3 shows schematically the tape reader used in the machine;

FIGURE 4 is a diagram showing schematically the character selection ofthe machine;

FIGURE 5 is a diagram showing an alternative arrangement of thecharacter selection and projection used in the machine;

FIGURE 6 shows a multiple font grid used in the machine;

FIGURE 7 is a detailed view to explain the automatic positioning of theimages of the characters to get perfect alignment on the film;

FIGURES 8 and 9 show an illumination system which can be used in themachine;

In addition, the keyboard is adapted to actuate a permutation bar unitPB, which may be of the familiar form used in teletype apapratus. Theunit PB has four output circuits. The first circuit is constituted by auniversal wire 11, which receives a temporary electrical impulsewhenever any character key or the space bar is depressed. The secondcircuit is constituted by six wires B to G, inclusive, forming with awire A an alphabetical code group AC. A distinct combination of thesewires is similarly energized whenever any one of the character keys isdepressed. The third circuit is constituted by a number of wires forminga cable 12. There is one wire in this cable for every character key(forty-five in the illustrated embodiment), and each wire is energizedonly when the corresponding key is depressed. The fourth circuit isconstituted by a single Wire 14 which is energized whenever the spacebar is depressed.

The keyboard or an adjacent part of the machine accessible to theoperator is also provided with a number of other keys. These include acase shift key CSK, by which the universal wire it is connected to thealphabetical code wire A through energization of the case shift relayCS. A half-set key HSK is depressed to energize a half-set relay HS,therby reducing the set width of any character to half its normal value.Similarly a double-set key DSK and a relay D8 are operative to doublethe set width of any character.

The alphabetical code group AC of seven wires is connected directly witha recording unit REC, which trans fers informatlon to the register REG acharacter at a time. The unit REC may include a number of punches for apaper tape, one for each entry wire, but it preferably includes thesolenoid-actuated hammers of the register of our Patent No. 2,690,249.

In addition to the alphabetical code group AC, there is a numerical codegroup NC leading to the recording unit. This grou pis constituted byseven wires, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 and 128, each Wire having a binaryorder represented by its reference number. This code group is used torep resent the width of each character, taking into account its case,relative width value and set. Finally, there is a single entry wire Swhich is energized with a wire 18 through the wire 14 to designate aword space entry in the register. Also, by means hereinafter described,a wire 20 which is energized at the same time transmits a width valueindirectly to the numerical code group NC, this width value being theminimum value assigned to each word space.

The numerical code group NC is also connected with a line counter CL,which is preferably a binary relay accumulator of the type described inour Patent No. 2,682,- 814. This counter accumulates the widths of theselected characters in a line, whereby it is possible to determine theadditional increments or spaces that must be added to the minimum wordspaces or, if desired, between each pair of adjacent characters tojustify the line.

The determination of justification increment sizes is made in a suitablejustifier TU, which may be, for example, of the type described in ourPatent No. 2,682,814. To this end, an interword (word space) counter CIis also connected with the justifier. The counter CI may be a steppingswitch as described in the last-mentioned patent, which steps oneposition each time the space bar is depressed through operation of aninterword relay W by the wire 14.

When an entire line of characters has been registered, the operator mayread the unjustified copy produced at the key-board to detect any errorstherein. If there are no errors, a suitable carriage return key (notshown) may be depressed. This key returns the platen of the typing unitand initiates the transcription of the stored line in the usual manner.At any time before this key is depressed, the operator may return theplaten of the typing unit to the position of any character to becorrected, and erase and correct the corresponding information in theregister REG and the line counter CL. This is made possible in amechanical register by a mechanical connection between the recordingunit REC and the platen of the typing unit, as fully described in saidPatents Nos. 2,690,- 249 and 2,682,814. According to these patents, agroup of contact-closing sensing levers are lifted to detect the binarywidth value of the erroneous character, and an erasing mechanism is thenmoved to retract the pins.

After the line has been composed and corrected, the information in theregister is read by a suitable reading device REA, a character at atime, and transferred to a tape punch 19 in such a way that all of theinformation necessary to the transcription of a justified line willappear in the punched tape. To this effect, the punch 10 receives notonly the information from the reading device REA, but also at theappropriate times, additional information from the justifier JU forproper spacing between words.

The product of the typing unit or recording section of the machine isthus a corrected tape hearing all the necessary information to operatethe photographic unit Without having to wait for additional operationssuch as justification computations. This enables the photographicsection of the machine to run at considerably higher average speeds thenit would be possible if the tape were not an exact representation of theline. It should be clear at this point that our methods differ from theknown systems of recording a line on a punched tape with thejustification information punched at the end of each line on the sametape, thus requiring additional reading and computation at thephotographic unit.

The character selection and projection system will now be described.

The machine described preferably uses a static projec tion system, i.e.,a system wherein any of a series of characters representing at least onecomplete alphabet can be projected at a common point without having tomove any mechanical parts, except shutters. Systems of this kind havebeen described in French Patent No. 992,584, FIGURE 3, and also in ourPatent No. 2,781,706, but the arrangement shown on FIGURES 4 and 5 ispreferred and makes use of the optical system described in French PatentNo. 799,460. In this arrangement a matrix grid such as the one shown inFIG- URE 6 is used, there being associated with each character to beprojected simultaneously with other characters a small lens 136. Eachcharacter 6 is transparent on an opaque background and is associated toa small lens 136 positioned in such a way that all these lenses willmake a virtual image of their associated characters at a common point P,as described in the above-mentioned French patent. A large collectinglens 138 is positioned to make a real image from this virtual image at i(FEGS. l1 and 12). The whole array of characters is illuminated by alamp 129 and a condenser 13th positioned so that the filament of thelamp appears to be at point P. A group of shutters 126 can be controlledto illuminate only one character at a time.

The illuminated character is projected considerably enlarged onto thecathode 250 of a tube (FIG- URE 4). This tube is of a well-known typecalled an image converter and transforms the visible light into a beamof electrons which are focused to the other end of the tube to giveagain a visible light. The purpose of this tube is to obviate the twomain disadvantages of any kind of static multiple lens arrangementproposed hitherto for use in photographic type composing machines.

The first disadvantage which is overcome by the present arrangementrelates to the difficulty of aligning with accuracy the individuallenses 136 all mounted on a single plate 134. According to the inventionthese lenses do not have to be aligned, the correction beingautomatically made by the tube 140 and associated circuitry to bring allthe characters to the same alignment, even though they would beprojected slightly out of alignment if it were not for the presence ofthis tube.

The second difficulty of the multiple lens arrangement systems residesin the loss of light due to a widely divergent beam. This should beclear by the examination of FIGURE 11 where, for example, the top lenswill, after making an image at the common point i form a beam 260slanting down while the bottom lens will form a beam 262 going upwards.That means that in order to change the size of the characters, lenses ofconsiderably large diameter such as 264 would have to be used, so largethat the system is practically confined to very little magnification orenlargement. We obviate this ditiiculty by the use of tube 14% (FIGURES4 and 5) which produces at its anode 252 an image on a fluorescentscreen which can be refocused by a lens 154 to make a real image i,which in turn can be refocused by the selected one of a series of lensesof differing magnifications mounted on a lens turret.

This lens projects an image onto a film through the optical systemdescribed in the patent to Caldwell No. 2,670,665 comprising a prism 36.The tube 140 is provided with a focusing coil 142 and deflecting coils144 and 146 which could be replaced by deflecting plates inside thetube. The coil 144 deflects the beam vertically while the coil 146deflects the beam horizontally. In order to align all the characterseach master character on the grid 132 (FIGURE 6) is provided with tworeference lines 194 and 197, one for horizontal alignment and the otherfor vertical alignment, as shown in FIG- URE 7, and matching transparentlines are scribed on an opaque background on the screen 252 so that eachcharacter can he brought in exact alignment by bringing these two pairsof lines, the one projected and the one scribed, into perfectcoincidence. This registration is achieved by the use of multiplepotentiometers such as 186 (FIGURE 4), there being one pair for eachcharacter, one of them being used to control the vertical displacementwhile the other one is used to control the horizontal displacement. Thealignment is made by using a tape bearing the code of all the charactersof the alphabet and passing this tape through the tape reader 174 anddecoder 172. The tape is advanced one step at a time, and each time acharacter is projected onto the screen 252 by the proper actuation ofthe shutter 1.25. The purpose of the decoder 172 is to activate one wiresuch as 258 for each individual character. Each of these latter wires isdivided into two sections, one going to the ertical control wire 188 andthe other to the horizontal control wire 190. The operator watches theformation of the character image on the screen 252 and manipulates thepotentiometers (or other equivalent adjustable circuit elements) tobring the reference lines of the character which is being projected toperfect registration with the scribed lines of the observing screen.

Thus the alignment has to be made for each character individually and ofcourse for each machine; but this procedure makes it possible to use amultiplicity of small inexpensive lenses and also reduces the size ofthe machine since no means for the accurate alignment of these lenseshas to be provided.

A beam splitting mirror 180 associated with a lens 182 projects the sameimage onto a tube 184 which may be part of a closed circuit televisionsystem so that the image which is projected onto the film can also beprojected onto a viewing screen close to the operator who can thusfollow the composition as he types or as tape is being fed through themachine.

The arrangement shown in FIGURE is similar to the one shown in FIGURE 4except for the means for accurate positioning of the character images.In this alternative arrangement each letter is brought to exacthorizontal and vertical alignment automatically. To this eifect we usetwo photocells 150 and 152 which are also shown in FIGURE 7. Thedeflection elements 144 and 146 receive a potential before theprojection of each character of a value such that the character mostout-ofalignment would be brought to a position to the left and below thepositions of the extensions of the lines 194 and 197 shown in FIGURE 7.These deflection elements are associated with circuitry well-known inthe art so that the vertical reference line 197 will continuously moveto the right as shown in FIGURE 7, and the horizontal line 194 willcontinuously move upward as shown in FIGURE 7. These sweeping actionswill immediately stop as soon as each line has reached its respectivephotocell; the action of the light passing through the lines to activatethe photocells stops either the vertical or the horizontal action. Thesetwo sweeping actions do not normally stop simultaneously, but the firstluminous line which would reach its associated photocell stops itsparticular sweeping circuit while the other sweeping action proceedsuntil the second photocell is reached by its associated luminousreference line. When these reference lines have thus been aligned withthe photocells, the sweeping action, vertical and horizontal, is stoppdby a circuit, not shown in detail as similar circuits are well-known.This circuit could be in the box 170 controlled by register 714 anddecoder 172. As soon as both photocells have received the light of theirassociated reference lines a circuit 164 sends a signal to anothercircuit 168 which energizes a shutter control circuit 166 in order tomove a shutter 156 out of the path of the beam of light forming thecharacter. As soon as the shutter has been returned to again obturatethe beam of light, the deflection circuits are actuated for the nextcharacter, i.e., the potentials of the deflection elements are returnedto their original values which would move the next character below andto the left of the illustrated position as stated above.

We preferably use in this machine a matrix grid bearing a completeassortment of characters comprising four different styles, for example,Roman, Italics, Bold and Small Caps. Each of these styles comprises thecomplete upper case and lower case alphabet, numerals, punctuationmarks, etc., the number of different characters generally being 90.These four dififerent type faces are on a common plate 132, FIGURE 6. Inthis figure the little crosses represent the roman alphabet, the xsrepresent the italic alphabet, the black dots represent the boldalphabet and the white dots represent the small caps and other specialsigns. In its normal position as shown in FIGURE 6 the grid 132 isresting in the angle of a supporting member 206, as shown in FIG. 12.This grid can move upwards and to the right in its own plane, thedisplacement to the right being effected by a solenoid 210 and a roller212, and the displacement upward by a solenoid 214 and a roller 216.There is only one lens for each group of four characters, i.e., there isonly one lens for the A whether it is an italic A or roman A or hold Aor small cap A. In the example shown each lens is aligned with thelittle crosses, there being as many lenses as there are little crosses.These lenses are located in reasonably accurate relationship to thesecrosses in order to make a virtual image of each character at a commonpoint P as shown and explained above. In order to shift from roman toitalic the solenoid 210 is energized which pushes the grid against theaction of spring 268 to the right until the same grid is accuratelylocated by stops 202 and 264. If it is desired to go from roman to bold,solenoid 214 is energized and the grid is pushed upward and accuratelylocated by the stops 2% and 202. By the same procedure we can shift fromroman to small caps by energizing simultaneousely solenoids 210 and 214which moves the plate to the right and upward against the accuratelypositioned stop 202. As is well-known, shift signals should be stored onthe punched tape in order to effect any of these changes of style fromroman to italics or hold or small caps.

The machine described operates according to the broad principlesdisclosed in our said application Serial No. 627,501. In the exampleshown, however, we use the optical system described in Patent No.2,670,665 rather than the one shown in said application. The two systemsare, of course, both adapted for use in conjunction with the presentinvention. It is clear that with the system described using acontinuously moving prism or film carriage associated with a stationaryoptical system and a pulse generator and pulse counter to control theflashing time of selected characters in such a way that the spacing onthe film will be appropriate, some means have to be incorporated intothe machine to stop the moving prism carriage or film carriageaccurately when a shift is made. Experience has shown that it is verydiflicult to stop with high accuracy and start, also at a preciseinstant, a moving member such as the film carriage or prism carriage ina photographic type composing machine. According to one of thecharacteristics of the present invention We do not try to stop the prismor film carriage with high accuracy, but We count accurately the timeinterval during which the shifts take place. The operation of themachine for a shift signal will now be described with reference toFIGURE 2.

The general arrangement shown in FIGURE 2 is basically the same as theone described in our said application Serial No. 627,501 except for theaddition of certain features which are peculiar to the presentinvention. A motor 82 drives continuously, for example at a speed of 5revolutions per second, a shaft 65 on which is pinned a glass disc 86.This disc carries on its periphery a number, for example 400, oftransparent slits on opaque background. An exciter lamp 8% projects thrua microscope 1th) a luminous slit of great intensity onto the plane ofthe continuously rotating disc. A photocell 92 receives these luminouspulses and transforms them into electrical pulses which are sent to anamplifier 94. The electrical pulses emerging from 94 are sent to acounter 62 via a shift control circuitry 42. The counter 62 is used in amanner similar to the counter described in the previously mentionedapplication Serial No. 627,501.

This counter is used to trigger the flash control circuit 76 which inturn energizes the illumination device 129 (FIGURE 4 or 5) to projectthe selected character onto the film. The selection of characters ismade by decoder 34 which allows the proper shutter to be operated orselects one of a multiplicity of equivalent small flash light sources.This decoder is also connected to the shift control 42 and solenoidssuch as 210 which select which one of the different styles carried byplate 132 mounted on frame 123 should be in operating position. Theilluminated character is projected thru a group of lenses onto the lensmounted on a lens turret 98 provided with a number of lenses ofdifferent focal lengths enabling the projection of characters ofdifferent sizes. The light emerging from the lens turret reaches theoptical system generally described by 80 which is similar to the oneshown in said Patent 2,670,665.

The film is schematically represented at 176. The displacement of theprism shown at 80 of the optical system used for the projection of thecharacters is controlled by a rack 102. This rack is engaged by a pinion96, driven by a worm gear 280 engaged by a worm 84 mounted on a shaft232 rotating in the general framework 166 of the machine and driven by agear 78 engaged by another gear 68. Gear 68 is part of a differentialarrangement comprising bevel gears 58, 60 and 36. Gear 60 rotates freelyon the spider of the differential which is pinned to the continuouslyrotating shaft 65. Gear 68 is loose on shaft 65 but is driven by pinion38 mounted on a friction device of the type shown in our copendingapplication Serial No. 590,304, filed June 8, 1956, now abandoned. Thisfriction device consists mainly of two friction discs 70 squeezed by aspring 264 between steel discs 266 and 268. Another steel plate 72 isheld stationary by a finger 74 mounted on the general frame of themachine. It is clear that this arrangement gives a continuous drag andacts like a continuously applied brake on the gear 68. The other side ofthe differential arrangement comprising the bevel gear 58 and the gear2'70 is prevented from rotating by a gear 54 meshing with gear 270 andprovided with a lug 272 engaged by a pawl 50 pivoted at 52 andcontrolled by a solenoid 48. Gear 54 can rotate freely on shaft 56 butas appears in the drawing, is prevented from doing so by the engagementof lug 272 by pawl 50. As gear 54 is prevented from rotating by thearrangement just explained, gear 276 will also be held stationary sothat gear 36 and consequently gear 68 will be forced to rotate againstthe action of the friction '70.

It is thus clear that, as long as the different elements are as shown inthe figure, gear 63 will continuously drive gear 7 8 and consequentlycontinuously move prism 80 in the direction corresponding to the normalcomposition of characters for a line of text.

Thus, for a line which does not necessitate any style shift or lensshift the prism will move continuously from the first character of theline to the last character of the line, as described in the previouslymentioned application Serial No. 627,501, and each character will beflashed at exactly the right time for accurate spacing on the film. Thistiming is controlled by counter 62 which is preset by decoder 34, by anamount corresponding to the width of the characters to be projected orwhich have been projected, the two methods being equivalent. When ashift signal is read by the tape reader it is clear that the prismcarriage should be stopped as a certain time will be necessary to allowfor the shift to take place. In the example shown, disc 66 rotates atrevolutions per second and the gear ratio between shaft 64 and rack 102is such that this rack moves at a speed of approximately 1 /2 inches persecond. It is clear that at this speed it would be very difficult tostop very instantly for one or two hundred milliseconds, the otherwisecontinuously moving optical system without losing part of the accuracywhich is required for good typography. One of the most importantcharacteristics of the present invention is to avoid the necessity forthis exact and instantaneous stopping of the moving elements when ashift is to take place. To this effect we use in addition to thedifferential arrangement which has been described, an auxiliary counter40. This counter can accumulate a number of electrical pulses, forexample 400.

In the example shown, this capacity represents a time of /5 of a second,or 200 milliseconds. We allow for any shifts a time which is a multipleof this time. Generally the shift time is less than 200 milliseconds,which means that the auxiliary counter 4-0 takes longer to be full thanit takes to shift, for example, from one style to another style. When ashift signal is read by the brushes 22 and 26 of a tape register inwhich the line is stored, the

V which can be used in the machine.

decoder 34 actuates the shift control circuitry 42 which switches byelectronic means the pulses coming from amplifier 94 from counter 62 tothe auxiliary counter 40. At the same time a signal is sent to solenoid48 to allow dog 272 to escape pawl 50. Gear 54 is thus allowed to makeone revolution and the displacement of the prism carriage will bestopped. This action, however, will not be instantaneous because of thefriction-differential arrangement, but the operation will rather be asmooth stopping of gear 68 and consequently of the whole opticalequipment and a gradual starting of gear 54. If we assume that the discor lens shift is completed before gear 54 has made a completerevolution, the mechanical shift circuit 46 sends a signal to shiftcontrol circuit 42 which releases solenoid 48 in order to stop gear 54,after it has rotated exactly one revolution. During all this time thepulses emerging from amplifier 94 have been sent to the auxiliarycounter 40. The purpose of this counter is to lose these pulses or, inother words, to prevent these pulses from reaching the counter 62 whichcontrols the flash circuit. It is evident that the capacity of theauxiliary counter 40 should correspond exactly to the number of pulseswhich are generated during one revolution of gear 54 which in thepresent embodiment corresponds to one revolution of shaft 64. As soon ascounter 40 has reached full capacity the carry-over pulse is returned toshift control 42 thru wire 292 for the purpose of switching back theimpulses emerging from 94 to the counter 62. The normal operation of themachine is then resumed.

It should be pointed out that the fact that the prism carriage may havemoved a little after the shift signal had reached the decoder is of noimportance as long as this displacement is less than the narrowestcharacter What is important is the fact that the shift signal hasimmediately transferred the pulses from the flash controlling counter tothe auxiuiary counter in order to lose a number of pulses correspondingto the time it takes for gear 54 to accomplish one of an intergal numberof revolutions. The small motion of gears 36 and 38 which occurs afterthe shift signal has reached the shift control 42 and be fore or at thesame time as gear 54 has started rotating has no effect on thepositioning accuracy of the following character because thisdisplacement of gear 68 and associated elements will increase the timeit takes for gear 54 to make one revolution. The same number of pluses,that is to say 400, in the example described, will in any case be sentto the auxiliary counter 40 which means that the loss of pulsescorresponds exactly to the loss of motion of the rack 102, whatever isthe value of the residual displacement. The influence of anydisplacement of the rack 102 thru gear 68 after the shift signal hasreached the circuitry is to slow down the speed of gear 54. We could,for example, assume that with no friction 70 and equal load on bothsides of the differntial, gears 270 and 36 or 68 would rotate at thesame speed as shaft 64, and the effect would be to slow down by one-halfgear 54 which would thus require two revolutions of fixed disc 86 tomake one full revolution. During these two revloutions 800 pulses wouldbe sent to the auxiliary counter which would accept only 400 pulses andsend the other ones to the flash circuit to prepare the circuit to flashthe next character thus compensating for the residual motion of theprism carriage. The displacements of rack 102 after the shift signal hasenergized the control circuit 42 are consequently always counted for thetiming of the flash. In certain cases such as in the case of a lensturret shift, it may be that 200 milliseconds are not long enough toallow for the shift to be completed. In this case the shift mechanism bymeans not shown does not send a signal to shift circuit 46 to advisethis circuit that the shift is completed, and in this case the absenceof signal will allow the switching circuit 42 to continue to send pulsesfor another group of 400 pulses to auxiliary counter 40, and this asmany times as required. The .pulse shift control 42 to be effectiveshould receive first a signal from circuit 46 to advise that the shiftis completed and prepare the circuit 42 to shift pulses back to counter62, as soon as a carryover appears on wire 292.

The tape 114 is run thru the tape reader as shown in FIGURE 3. This tapereader is characterized by a continuously rotating drum 108 made ofinsulating material with a number of conducting rings, there being onering for each scanning brush 112. The other side of the ring makescontacts with common brushes 124 connected, for example, to the groundof the machine. This arrangement is very effective in that the brushesmake contact with a continuously moving surface which preventsoccasional bad contact due to little insulation particles such as dust.The tape is stopped, one row at a time, by a solenoid 118 provided witha pawl 120 working against a spring 122. Pawl 120 engages a ratchetmounted on the sprocket 116 in a manner well known to a man skilled inthe art. As described in our copending application Serial No. 500,397,(now abandoned) and shown in FIG- URE l, we preferably use a tape with15 holes, there being seven holes associated with seven brushes 22, FIG-URE 2, corresponding to the alphabetical selection of characters, andanother group of seven holes sca-ned by seven brushes 24, correspondingto the width selection of characters, and another hole associated with abrush 26, which is more specifically used for shifts such as lens turretshift or style shifts. In order to add a flash of short duration whilethe film or prism carriage is in motion, the lamp 129 shown in FIGURES 4and 5, is preferably an electronic flash lamp like the one used in themachine described in Patent No. 2,790,362.

According to another arrangement we provide a grid system which allowsany of a series of points equal in number to the number of characterlenses to become luminous for a very short period. This arrangement isshown schematically on FIGURES 8 and 9. A group of wires of specialmaterial is arranged as shown, there being an equal number of verticalwires such as 226 and horizontal wires such as 228. Relay contacts 218and 220 enable the selection of any one of the group of vertical wiresand any one wire of the horizontal group. These wires are spaced by ashort distance, for example, a few thousandths of an inch, so that aspark can appear between two selected wires at the point where theycross each other. These wires can be mounted into holders such as 222for horizontal wires and 224 for vertical wires made of propertransparent and insulating material. These holders shown separated onFIGURE 9, are cemented one against the other and are provided withlittle cavities so that after the two parts are assembled these cavitiescan be evacuated and filled with the appropriate gas such as xenon. Theselection of one vertical wire and one horizontal wire having been madeby relays, the flash control 38 is energized by the decoder of themachine. Through means not shown but well-known in the art, a highvoltage is sent to selected wires in order to obtain a discharge ofshort duration which will illuminate one of the different littlerecesses of plates 222-224. An alternative type embodying a mechanicalshutter is shown in FIGURE 10. In this case two groups of shutters areshown, for example a group 232 provided with four blades and a group 234provided also with four blades.

These shutters operate in a manner similar to the ones described in ourPatent No. 2,744,457. One group of shutters opens a horizontal slot ofthe width of the character and the other group opens one vertical slotof the height of the characters. By the proper operation of each ofthese groups of shutters we can thus open a hole at the spot where thedesired character is located. These shutters are operated from thedecoder by solenoids in 10 a manner similar to the one described in saidPatent 2,744,457.

Having thus described the invention, we claim:

1. In type composing apparatus, the combination of a character supportbearing an array of characters to be photographed, said characters beingarranged in groups, a source of light to illuminate the characters, aplurality of group lenses each corresponding to one group and adapted toform a virtual image of a selected character thereon in a positioncommon to the virtual images of characters [formed by the other grouplenses, first selection means to accurately shift the support relativeto the group lenses to cause each group lens to form in said position avirtual image of a different character in its corresponding group,second selection means to transmit the light from a selected group lens,an image receiving medium, and a focusing lens to focus a real imagefrom the selected group lens on to a common image position on saidmedium.

2. In type composing apparatus, the combination of a character supportbearing an array of characters to be photographed, said characters beingarranged in groups, a source of light to illuminate the characters, aplurality of group lenses each corresponding to one group and adapted toform a virtual image of a selected character thereon in a positioncommon to the virtual images of characters formed by the other grouplenses, first selection means to accurately shift the support relativeto the group lenses in each of two directions to cause each group lensto form in said position a Virtual image of a different character in itscorresponding group, second selection means to transmit the light from aselected group lens, an image receiving medium, and a focusing lens tofocus a real image from the selected group lens on to a common imageposition on said medium.

3. In type composing apparatus, the combination of a character supportbearing an array of characters to be photographed, said characters beingarranged in groups, a source of light to illuminate the characters, aplurality of group lenses each corresponding to one group and adapted toform a virtual image of a selected character thereon in a positioncommon to the virtual images of characters formed by the other grouplenses, first selection means to accurately shift the support relativeto the group lenses in each of two mutually perpendicular directions tocause each group lens to form in said position a virtual image of adifferent character in its corresponding group, second selection meansto transmit the light from a selected group lens, an image receivingmedium, and a focusing lens to focus a real image from the selectedgroup lens on to a common image position on said medium.

4. In type composing apparatus, the combination of a plurality of grouplenses, a character support bearing an array of characters to bephotographed, said characters being arranged in groups, there being agroup lens for each of said groups adapted to form a virtual image of aselected character thereof, each of said groups being arranged so thatthe selected character thereof is accurately positioned in the opticalaxis of its corresponding group lens and has a virtual image positioncommon to those of the selected characters in the optical axes of othergroup lenses, a source of light to illuminate the characters, firstselection means to shift the support relative to the group lenses,second selection means to transmit the light from a selected group lens,a support for an image receiving medium, and a focusing lens to focus areal image from the selected group lens on to a common image position onsaid medium.

5. The combination according to claim 1, wherein the first selectionmeans include abutment means to define accurately a pair of relativepositions for the group lenses and character support in each of twomutually perpendicular directions, and means to move the group lensesand 1 1 character support relatively to any one of four positionsdefined by said abutments.

6. The combination according to claim 1, wherein the second selectionmeans include a plurality of coded shutters between the source of lightand the focusing lens.

7. The combination according to claim 1, wherein the array of characterscomprises rows and columns wherein each group comprises a combination ofadjacent characters in a plurality of rows and columns.

8. The combination according to claim 4, wherein the surface in whichthe characters lie is planar.

9. The combination according to claim 4, wherein the first selectionmeans include electromagnets engaged with the character support andadapted to shift it in mutually perpendicular directions, and means forselectively energizing the electromagnets.

10. The combination according to claim 4, wherein the first selectionmeans include electromagnet means engaged with the character support andadapted to shift it in mutually perpendicular directions, means forresiliently holding the support in one position when the magnets areunenergized, and means to energize the electromagnet means selectively.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1960 Moyroud95-45 7/1962 Friedman 944.5

1. IN TYPE COMPOSING APPARATUS, THE COMBINATION OF A CHARACTER SUPPORT BEARING AN ARRAY OF CHARACTERS TO BE PHOTOGRAPHED, SAID CHARACTERS BEING ARRANGED IN GROUPS, A SOURCE OF LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE THE CHARACTERS, A PLURALITY OF GROUP LENSES EACH CORRESPONDING TO ONE GROUP AND ADAPTED TO FORM A VIRTUAL IMAGE OF A SELECTED CHARACTER THEREON IN A POSITION COMMON TO THE VIRTUAL IMAGES OF CHARACTERS FORMED BY THE OTHER GROUP LENSES, FIRST SELECTION MEANS TO ACCURATELY SHIFT THE SUPPORT RELATIVE TO THE GROUP LENSES TO CAUSE EACH GROUP LENS TO FORM IN SAID POSITION A VIRTUAL IMAGE OF A DIFFERENT CHARACTER IN ITS CORRESPONDING GROUP, SECOND SELECTION MEANS TO TRANSMIT THE LIGHT FROM A SELECTED GROUP LENS, AN IMAGE RECEIVING MEDIUM, AND A FOCUSING LENS TO FOCUS A REAL IMAGE FROM THE SELECTED GROUP LENS ON TO A COMMON IMAGE POSITION ON SAID MEDIUM. 